


Lock Picking

by Darkmirror



Series: Learning to Fly [2]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, Young Justice - All Media Types
Genre: Bruce being a detective, Dick being mischievous, Gen, Kids being excited about being handcuffed, Lock Picking, Training
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-09
Updated: 2020-08-09
Packaged: 2021-03-06 03:13:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,387
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25806424
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Darkmirror/pseuds/Darkmirror
Summary: Dick practices his lock picking skills. But of course it couldn't just be on any old lock:)
Relationships: Alfred Pennyworth & Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson & Alfred Pennyworth, Dick Grayson & Bruce Wayne
Series: Learning to Fly [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1868839
Comments: 6
Kudos: 66





	Lock Picking

**Author's Note:**

> Story #2 in Learning to Fly!  
> It is not necessary to have read #1 to read this one, but feel free to do it anyway:)

Lock Picking

“Master Dick what are you doing?” asked Alfred. The butler had been walking down the hall when he spotted the boy crouched in an adjoining hall. A very familiar hall and crouched before a very familiar door. 

“Thinking,” the nine year old answered without looking away from the doorknob before him. The answer was said so nonchalantly that Alfred was almost tempted to continue on his way except that door led to Master Bruce’s suite and if the mischievous young ward was contemplating it, it was not for innocent reasons. 

Alfred decided it was best to investigate further and so walked down the hall toward his new charge. Alfred had been very hesitant when Master Bruce had decided to adopt the boy. His master had a very demanding lifestyle that was not conducive with raising a child. Between his time spent at Wayne Tech, being Bruce Wayne, and being the Batman the man hardly had any extra time for anything else, let alone raising a child. Alfred thought it would be unfair to the boy and more stressful for the man. After all the child would be one more person he’d have to hide his secrets from and this time it would be even harder with the boy living in the house. Master Bruce would have no place he could retreat to to unwind and relax. Not to mention that children needed attention and affection from their guardians, two things Bruce was in short supply of. 

Of course Alfred had been proven right on all those accounts but wrong as well. The boy had discovered his guardian’s secret identity fairly quickly, but rather than be scared or “balb” he had asked to help. To be allowed to train and help guard the secret. It took no stretch of the imagination to understand the boy’s underlying motivation and it had worried Alfred when his older charge agreed. How could Bruce possibly think that training the young boy to be Batman and sending him out to fight the villains of Gotham would be a good thing?

Alfred had never been so happy to be proven wrong. The boy had been like a breath of fresh air to their stagnant cave dwelling. He was energetic and mischievous and curious and best of all happy. The boy adored his new role and life and it had taken Alfred much longer then Bruce to understand that that was what the boy had needed after losing his family. He’d had a place and purpose, a role, within his circus family and suddenly it had vanished, leaving him with only sadness, rage and a feeling of profound loss that he did not know what to do with. Feelings that Bruce intimately understood. 

Just as pleasing to the butler was the change the boy’s presence was having on the man. Alfred did not think the sole Wayne heir had yet to realize the changes coming over him and Alfred was fine with that. The old gentleman felt years of heartache and sadness leaving his shoulders with every laugh he heard from Bruce’s throat these days. It had been so long since he had heard the genuine sound of joy from the man that he had almost feared he had forgotten how. To hear it brought back to life again now was a blessing. The smiles were just as delightful. Alfred had never let himself imagine Bruce with a family after Batman was created. He had known it would only stand to put a barrier between them, for Alfred to place such an unachievable expectation on Bruce’s shoulders. However, watching the soft smiles of pride and love split his master’s face when he looked at his new ward allowed Alfred to see the father he could and was becoming.

For those far more frequent smiles and sincere laughs Alfred would be forever grateful to the young Richard Grayson. 

However, that did not mean he would permit the boy to break into Master Wayne’s room. For that was clearly what the boy was about to do. 

Standing directly behind him now, Alfred could see the lock picks being lifted to the door’s lock, held lightly between the boy’s dexterous fingers. 

“Master Dick I am not going to allow you to break into Master Bruce’s room,” the butler scolded as he placed a hand on the boy’s shoulder and turned him away. 

“Aw come on Alfred. He say I need to practice,” the boy whined, pulling against Alfred as the elder man grabbed his wrist and began dragging him from the door. 

“’Said’ Master Dick not ‘say’. And I’m fairly certain he had not meant his bedroom door for you to practice on. Perhaps we should work more on your English as a better use of your time,” the butler stated and heard the groan behind him that had the man fighting down a smile. 

-Later that night-

“Have you been practicing?” Bruce asked his ward as Alfred cleared away the plates from dinner. 

“Yep,” the boy replied cheerfully with a brilliant smile. Bruce felt some of the stress that had built up throughout his day ease a bit at that smile. 

“Good,” he said before standing. “If you can show me you’ve improved we’ll move on to the next phase.”

“You mean you’ll finally handcuff me?” the boy asked excitedly, his eyes practically dancing at the prospect. Bruce had to hold back a snort at the boy’s words and excitement. In any other context a nine year old being so jazzed about being bound in cuffs and forced to escape would have been disturbing. As it was he was having trouble not smiling. 

Bruce turned his back on the boy and began making his way toward his suite. “We’ll see,” he said, secretly relishing the delighted whoop that followed his words. 

Alfred met him halfway to his room. “Sir.”

“Yes Alfred,” Bruce said, the butler falling into easy step with him as he continued toward his room to change out of his work attire. It had been a very long day and by the time Bruce had arrived home dinner was being served. 

“I just wished to inform you that earlier today the manor received a call from Mr. Kent. He said he needed to speak with you but that it was not urgent,” Alfred recited as they continued down the halls. Bruce gave a grunt of acknowledgement- it couldn’t be too important if Clark had called the Manor rather than him directly- and so Alfred continued on to the next order of business. “Also Sir, I wish to inform you that earlier today I found the Young Master attempting to break into your chambers.” The two had just rounded the final corner to Bruce’s wing and the younger man halted.

He raised a brow at Alfred. “What do you mean?”

“I believe he was attempting to practice his lock picking skills on your door when I happened to walk by and spot him,” Alfred elaborated. Bruce’s eyes narrowed and he knelt before his door examining the lock carefully. 

“I interrupted him before he could begin picking Master Bruce,” Alfred said as he watched the man work. 

“Doesn’t that strike you as odd Alfred?” Bruce asked, trailing his fingertips lightly over his lock face , feeling for imperfections where picks might have slipped. 

Nothing. 

Alfred frowned. “Why should it?”

Bruce rose to his feet, hand going to his pocket for the key. “Dick is a cunning kid who would know to be listening out for you if he was trying to break in somewhere he shouldn’t be,” Bruce said, fitting key to lock and striding through the open door. 

Alfred followed him, curious to hear the rest of the man’s reasoning. “Add to that the fact that the boy has been receiving stealth training for two weeks now it would seem odd for him to make such an obvious blunder,” Bruce continued. He had stopped just inside his room, eyes roaming over his domain searching for anything out of place. Alfred blinked.

“You think it was a rouse?” the elder man asked as he flicked on the lights. Instantly the two saw an area that had been disturbed and Alfred had to fight another smile. 

On the front of Bruce’s work desk in the corner was taped a brightly colored sheet of paper reading ‘OVER HERE!’ and a small caricature that looked remarkably like their young ward’s grinning face. 

Bruce walked over to the desk and found another sheet of paper lying on the desk’s surface; a giant arrow pointing toward the sole locked drawer of the desk. Bruce took out his key ring again to open the drawer as Alfred came over to the desk for a closer look. 

The dark haired man opened the drawer and easily found what had been placed inside. Smirking Bruce pulled the item out and placed it on the desk. It clattered and once his hand was removed Alfred was shown a pair of Batcuffs. He was shocked. 

“When could he have done this? I’ve been with the boy since I found him,” Alfred said and then realized the answer. 

“What time did you find him?” Bruce asked, staring down at the desk.

“Around eleven this morning I believe,” Alfred said after a moment’s thought. 

“I left for work at 8 but Dick ate breakfast with me,” Bruce said and picked up the paper depicting the colored arrow. “This is the good paper from the printer in my office down the hall. It’s the same stock and the only place we have it in the manor. The lines for the arrow are drawn perfectly straight as are the words on the other paper. None of the coloring has escaped the arrow’s lines or paper. This would have taken time to do and set up,” Bruce deduced, placing the paper back on the desk and lifting the cuffs. “These are from the Cave. I locked them up last night when I got back from patrol.”

Bruce looked around the room again his mind calculating how the boy had done this work and how long it would have taken. 

“Are you saying,” Alfred began, and Bruce brought his gaze over to meet the elder’s slightly stunned one. “That Master Dick not only broke into this room, but the office down the hall, the locker room in the Cave, the locker itself where you stored the cuffs and the locked drawer to your desk?” 

“You woke him up this morning correct?” Bruce asked, momentarily not answering Alfred’s question, instead deciding all the facts were more pertinent then speculation just yet.

“Yes at 7:30 as per usual,” Alfred confirmed, patiently. 

“Was he awake already?”

Alfred almost snorted. “No sir. The day that boy gets up with the sun on his own will truly be a cold day in Hell,” the butler said with a smile. Bruce shared the man’s mirth before quickly becoming serious again. 

“Agreed. And seeing as I did not get in until 4am and you were up to begin work at 6am I doubt he went into the Cave before I left for work. That would mean that he did not start his plan until after I left at eight.

“He then snuck into the Cave, broke into the locker room and locker, took the cuffs, snuck back out of the Cave up the stairs to my office, opened that door, stole the printer paper, broke into my room- I bet he brought his markers with him,” Bruce added indicating the papers. “He likely did the artwork right here on the desk- then set everything up, picked the drawer open, placed the cuffs, relocked the drawer, left my room, relocked that door and then waited for you to walk by and find him. You would have been downstairs and likely to pass by on your way to his room for lunch where you assumed he would be when you didn’t find him downstairs,” Bruce concluded. 

“How do you know he didn’t retrieve the cuffs and paper last night? Seems easier and quite frankly three hours seems like too short an amount of time for him to have done all of that. He is only a beginner.”

“I was in my office until I went on patrol last night at midnight by which time Dick had been asleep already. I had the cuffs when I went on patrol so he didn’t take them before I left, which means he waited until I returned. That wasn’t until a little after 4am. And as I said earlier, you got up at 6am to begin work. Dick could have gotten the cuffs in that time and the paper after I went on patrol but I doubt it,” Bruce said with a smirk. Alfred lifted an eyebrow in question as Bruce walked by to begin changing. “He likes the challenge too much to try the easy way and is too much the mischief maker to not try and push himself to complete it all in three hours,” Bruce said to which Alfred could only agree. That sounded like Richard. 

“I suppose that means he passed,” Alfred said as Bruce pulled on a t-shirt and sweats for training. 

“Assuming the other locks look just as untouched as these two then yes,” Bruce agreed. Alfred knew the man would check them before going down to the Cave to meet the no doubt excited Dick. 

Bruce slid the cuffs into a pocket and went to close the desk drawer when his eye caught something else in it. He huffed a laugh causing Alfred to raise an eyebrow again. (“overachiever” Bruce muttered.) Bruce simply took out the small piece of paper before closing and locking the drawer. 

In answer to Alfred’s silent question Bruce simply handed him the paper and continued out the door.

Alfred looked down at the paper. 

‘I LEFT ALFRED A GIFT IN HIS ROOM TOO☺

A few moments later found the old butler looking down at the paper sitting primly on his bed. Alfred immediately recognized it as the essay he had been hounding the young master to complete for the past three days. It was written in perfect English.  _ Now we just have to work on punctuation _ , Alfred thought with a soft smile. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! If you liked it please leave a kudo and/or comment:) I'd love to hear your guy's thoughts:))  
> Next installment should be coming out in the next few days.


End file.
